OLD IDEA
Teachers used to think…The PAST table book and TSG progressions for discrete units of sound, represented the most current research on developmental progressions and age ranges.
NEW IDEA
But now we know…Children should learn syllables at 3-4 years old, then should progress to initial sound isolation at 4-5 years. (LETRS pg. 111)
As you expose children to rhyming and alliteration activities, you may notice students who confuse the beginning and the ending of words. In this 2-minute video, my colleague, Michelle O’Reilly, demonstrates a very simple strategy to add visual and kinesthetic input that supports and reinforces the concepts of “beginning” and “end”.
NOTE: It is important not to confuse students with the concepts of ‘rhyme’ and beginning sound awareness (alliteration -onset/rime). Explicit instruction when teaching rhyme (words that sound the same at the end) is extremely important before formally teaching the concept of alliteration (words that begin with the same sound).
Phoneme Isolation of Beginning Sound
Phoneme segmentation
Identifying First Sound
Use children’s names in simple alliterative songs. (to the tune of London Bridge- “What’s the first sound that you hear, that you hear, that you hear? What’s the first sound that you hear in Jacob, Joshua, Jordan?”)
Silly Sentences
Create alliteration sentences using names of students in the classroom.
Create one sentence a day as a simple modeled writing activity. Add appropriate illustrations to help students ‘reread’ the sentences. Place sentence strips on a ring and leave in library center for students read. (BELS book pg. 67)
Picture Sound Sorts
INPUT/MODELING: Model identifying the first sound in the ‘guide’ pictures in set 1 and lay them out on the table. (Follow the example of the PALS Beginning Sound Awareness task.) Choose one other card and isolate the beginning sound. ‘Think Aloud” as you place the card under the picture that has the same beginning sound.
GUIDED PRACTICE: Go through the rest of the stack of picture cards in set 1 and make sure each student can identify the pictures. Give each child one card, have them isolate the beginning sound, and place the card in the correct column. Pass them out again and have the students try isolating the sounds with a different card. Once you feel the students understand the task, try it with the next set of cards.
Onset/Rime
Phoneme segmenting: verbally separate onset and rime with motions—onset (right hand out); rime (left hand out) and (hands together) ‘word’
Beginning Sound Sort
Phoneme identification: sorting 3-d objects
Collect objects that begin with the ‘s’ sound (soap, sunshine, sand [in a small container], spoon and other random objects. MODEL how to sort objects: Begins with ‘s’ sound & doesn’t begin with ‘s’ sound. Once that has been established, add another group of objects that all begin with the same sound. NOTE: Use no more than 3 ‘sounds’ at a time.
Phoneme Isolation of Initial Sound
· Letter stomp: Put a few (2-4) letters on the floor, have the students pick a picture and tell you the beginning sound, then have them find the letter that makes the sound and stomp on it.
· Letter Race: Place 2-3 letters on the floor and have 2 teams of students. Give each student a picture, once they are able to tell you the beginning sound (help students that need it) they can fast walk to put their picture under the corresponding letter and the next student can start.
Initial Sound Fluency
Scaffolded instruction: sorting sounds
-1 sound - not that sound
-2 sounds only
-2 familiar sounds/1 new
NOTE: no more than 3 sounds at a time until all are familiar